RII Track-4: NSF: Advancing Resilient Microgrid Configurations Targeted to Rural and Island Communities

Off-grid remote power systems, also known as microgrids, provide electricity to rural Alaskans. Known as the microgrid frontier of the United States, Alaska has over 200 remote-powered isolated villages spread across large areas with diverse energy resources. Remote Alaskan communities are frequently subject to extreme climate stress and require flexibility in how they generate and use energy.

As a result, microgrids need to be flexible and adaptable so they can dynamically respond to changes. This project will provide an opportunity to advance knowledge by (1) implementing realistic models of microgrid operation and control under extreme conditions, and (2) enabling microgrid architectures that can adapt to frequent changes in system operating conditions.

A small improvement in energy infrastructure could result in substantial financial savings and increase social welfare in rural and island communities, where electricity is vital to their health and well-being and susceptibility to power outages due to natural disasters like wildfires and storms persists. Through this project, University of Alaska’s (UAA's) institutional capacity for microgrid operation and control will be enhanced, opportunities for underrepresented and American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students will be created, and research and training opportunities will be provided to the electric industry workforce in Alaska.

This NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-4 EPSCoR Research Fellows (RII Track-4) project provides a fellowship to an Assistant professor and training for a graduate student at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). The primary goal of this NSF EPSCoR RII Track 4 project is to advance microgrid modularity, mobility, and reconfigurability features, evaluate their applicability to the rural Alaska’s energy landscape, as well as develop strategies to improve the reliability and flexibility of microgrids operating in harsh climates like the Arctic.

The project will provide Dr. Heidari Kapourchali at UAA with an opportunity to incorporate advanced Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) techniques into his research efforts related to microgrid operation and control in Alaska. This fellowship will be accomplished through two collaborative visits in 2023 and 2024 to the Resilient Renewable Energy Grid Adaptation Laboratory (REGAL), at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), where Dr.

Heidari Kapourchali will be provided access to microgrid testbeds, will be exposed to primary and secondary controller models and necessary hardware to perform hands-on Controller-Hardware-in-the-Loop (C-HIL) experiments, and will gain knowledge on fast-response controls in microgrid operations. The envisioned fellowship activities will remove significant obstacles in the path of deploying flexible and resilient microgrids in the Arctic, thereby creating the potential for Alaska communities to increase their reliance on renewable energy resources at minimum costs.

The project will expand UAA's research infrastructure by acquiring new analytical and modeling skills and will push the boundaries of flexible and adaptive microgrids in rural and island communities by providing hands-on laboratory experience and content for a HIL-integrated Power Electronics course at UAA.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.